There is a silent revolt in Coast that's simmering against Orange Democratic Movement(ODM) Party. Unbeknown to its party leader, Raila Odinga, the massive following the party has enjoyed is evidently waning.
Raila Odinga has taken Coast politicians hostages, often using them to present a messianic stature of himself to the Coast people. Yet, it's crystal clear that Odinga has never held any iota of concerns to the area apart from dangling the carrot of historical injustices rhetoric. Indeed, there is no single development project in Coast that can be attributed to Raila Odinga.
After the August 8, 2017 election, a wind of conscious awakening is blowing through the minds of ODM politicians that their political future under the party is blink. This is because:
1. While Mombasa Governor Hassan Joho is the deputy party leader, ODM is incorporated in Nyanza and our brothers from the lake region will not surrender party leadership to Joho as Raila exits the political scene. To them, the party leadership is their political birthright.
2. ODM has fired the warning shot to Coast leaders. Despite Joho and his Kilifi counterpart, Amason Kingi delivering overwhelming numbers of votes to the opposition, none has been feted with the prestigious premier position of being a NASA principal. A manifest mockery to Kingi and Joho by Raila was played in the public gallery when he mysteriously made former Meru governor Peter Munya as NASA principal. Munya has since retracted his steps back to the ruling Jubilee side.
3. Joho and Kingi have been using their test tube political babies, the newly elected Members of Parliament for Kilifi North, Ganze and Malindi: Owen Baya, Teddy Mwambire and Aisha Jumwa respectively, to table their grievances and jitters on why they're being taken for granted. The MPs have been parroting for the inclusion of the two Governors into the NASA principality fold. Characteristically of Odinga, the whining fronted by these political protégés has fallen into the deaf ear of Agwambo.
4. Joho and Kingi have started their last tenures in office and have since declared that they would register their candidature for the presidential contest in 2022. Their illusion cannot become a reality under ODM or NASA as it's a crowded house, with Kalonzo Musyoka, Moses Wetangula and Musalia Mudavadi also scrambling to inherit Raila's opposition baton.
Following the above scenarios, Coast politicians are sending signals for rerouting their political trajectory. Indeed, Kingi has hinted at the possibility of mending his relation with the Jubilee government in his second term.
The claim by Governor Kingi that he will not campaign for Raila Odinga because the NASA candidate is already popular, masks the real truth. Their being pushed at the NASA periphery and the 2022 expected realignment could be the force behind his declaration.
The seemingly disappearance of Joho's combative speeches in defense of Raila Odinga reveals a man taking a deep thought about his future relevance in ODM after the current party leader throws in the political towel.
New political formations in the Coast are inevitable and inescapable. The silent revolt is now noticeable. The future of Orange party in the region is blink.